AfD triples local election gains in NRW, claims third place with 14.5%

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has significantly increased its presence in the local elections held in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany, nearly tripling its 2020 result to 14.5% statewide, an increase of 9.4 percentage points. This surge has allowed the AfD to surpass the Greens, who received 13.5% of the vote, a decline of 6.5 percentage points. The AfD now claims the third position in the election results, following the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) at 33.3%, a decrease of 1.0 percentage points, and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) at 22.1%, down 2.2 percentage points. This marks the worst communal performance for both major parties since 1946.

Voter turnout for the elections rose to 56.5% from 51.9% in 2020, with approximately 13.7 million eligible voters participating in the decision-making process for 20,000 mandates and key mayoral positions.

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